Top 10 90s TV Dogs You’ll Never Forget

Top 10 90s TV Dogs You’ll Never Forget

It seems the 90s really went to the dogs. 90s TV programming was filled with amazing pets. If you were alive in the 90s, you no doubt recognize most of these canine characters. If you’re like us, you remember them better than their human costars.

While cartoon dogs like Brian from Family Guy and Santa’s Little Helper from the Simpsons were certainly popular, we’ve chosen only actual fuzzy thespians for this list. We’re also not including big screen stars like Beethoven and Chance and Shadow from Homeward Bound, but those will come in a future list.

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10. Stinky and Nunzio from Dharma and Greg

We’re starting out with a twofer. This award-winning 90s sitcom family had two pets- Stinky, a long-haired mutt, and Nunzio – Stinky’s dog, a Cardigan Welsh Corgi, who was a Bar Mitzvah gift from Dharma to Stinky. You might not have noticed, but throughout the 5-year run of the show, Stinky was played by two different dogs and Nunzio by 3. Bud, the original Nunzio also appeared in the 1988 movie, The Accidental Tourist.

9. Happy from 7th Heaven

Happy is the only character of the 7th Heaven cast to appear in all 243 episodes. Happy was literally the happiest dog on TV. He was this scrappy looking mutt that did nothing but please his owners and cheer them up when they needed it. He was more like the family’s therapist than their pet. Happy was truly the glue that kept the show together. In real life, Happy was a girl dog, also named Happy, a mixed terrier who was rescued from a California animal shelter.

8. Eddie from Frasier

Eddie, the scrappy Jack Russel Terrier from Frasier is perhaps one of the most memorable sitcom pooches of all time. This intelligent little dog never needed a witty retort to score a laugh. The canine character Eddie drove Kelsey Grammer’s lead character Frasier crazy for 10 years, scoring tons of fans. It is rumored that Eddie received the most fan mail of all the cast.

Eddie was portrayed by Moose for the first seven seasons, and by his son, Enzo, the remaining four.

Moose even landed on the cover of Entertainment Magazine.

7. Speedy the Dog from The Drew Carey Show

Played by Ajax, who also worked as Comet’s understudy from the show Full House, Speedy was Drew Carey’s Golden Retriever that he got from his ex-girlfriend.

Originally Speedy was supposed to move around with his hind legs in a wheelchair, but later on, he is seen walking on four legs. This transition was made because he reportedly couldn’t steer the chair well and was constantly bumping into characters on set.

6. Dreyfus from Empty Nest and The Golden Girls

Dreyfuss, the large brown dog on the sitcom Empty Nest from 1988 to 1995 was the pet and confidant of Dr. Harry Weston a widower pediatrician living in Miami Beach. The dog’s trainer Joel Silverman described Bear (Dreyfuss’ real name) as a mix of purebred St. Bernard and Golden Retriever. Among Bears’ many talents was his ability to climb inside the kitchen cabinet and close the door behind him.

Since Empty Nest was a spin-off of The Golden Girls, Dreyfuss appeared in several later-season episodes of The Golden Girls.

Bear’s brother Julio occasionally stood in as Dreyfuss.

5. Murray from Mad About You

If you remember Mad About You, you remember Murray, the Buchmans’ collie mix dog. He was a puppy when Paul found him, and Paul met Jamie while walking him. He sometimes chases an invisible mouse and often ends up crashing into the bedroom wall. In a later episode, Jamie does discover the real mouse that Murray has been chasing all this time. Twice voted the most popular dog by the readers of TV Guide, Murray, who was played by Maui, is loyal and endearing while being very laid back and a bit thick-skulled. Maui was originally found in a California, animal shelter by noted Hollywood animal trainer Boone Narr. Maui’s first assignments came in TV commercials and as the backup for the top dog in the feature film “Bingo”.

4. Comet from Full House

The Tanner household would not have been complete without the lovable Golden Retriever, Comet.

His debut came in the season three episode “And They Call It Puppy Love”. Comet’s mother, Minnie, ran away from her home and somehow ended up in the Tanners’ backyard while she was pregnant. She gave birth to a litter of puppies and they named one of the puppies “Comet” (after shooting down Michelle’s suggestion it be named after Mr. Bear). By the end of season three, Comet had fully grown to full size. He went on to appear in many Full House episodes.

3. Buck from Married With Children

The Bundys’ wisecracking Briard dog, that insults his family albeit in the privacy of his own thoughts and is punished after his death by being reincarnated as Lucky, the dog the Bundys acquire to replace Buck.

Whenever he spoke, it was usually to express his disappointment about not being fed, the stupidity of the family or his desire to be with the neighborhood dogs (or, in one case, a pony), though being a dog, no one in the family knew what he was saying. He didn’t speak until season 4.

His death was written in to allow Buck the dog who played Buck Bundy to retire due to old age and increasing difficulty in understanding his trainer’s instructions.

What can we say about Gidget. [yo quiero taco bell] Yes, me too, but let me finish this list first. While Gidget was not part of any television show, she without a doubt got the most air time of many dogs on this list. For a while, you couldn’t turn on the television without seeing this now iconic dog. The Taco Bell Dog has become a part of Americana and still widely recognized decades later.

The figure grew so popular that toy figures of the dog were produced, and “Yo quiero” became a recognized piece of popular culture.

In later years, Gidget appeared in a 2002 commercial for insurance company GEICO and as “Bruiser’s Mom” in the 2003 movie Legally Blonde 2: Red, White & Blonde.

1. Wishbone

You can’t have lived through the 90s and not remember Wishbone, the little dog with the big imagination, the titular character of this multiple Emmy-winning PBS series. This intelligent and witty Jack Russell Terrier imagines himself in the role of characters from classic books and gets involved in similar real-life adventures, taking you along for the ride.

Wishbone was incredibly spirited. He was an adventure dog, a storyteller, and a mentor, all in one. He wasn’t the kind of dog that would lay at your feet all day.

Wishbone was portrayed by Soccer, who was a veteran of commercials for companies like Nike Athletics and Mighty Dog Dog Food. Chosen from out of more than 100 dogs who auditioned for the role, Soccer appeared in almost every episode of the show during its 1995-1998 run.

So, who was your favorite canine television star of the 1990s.? Let us know in the comments below.

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Summary

Title

Top 10 90s TV Dogs You’ll Never Forget

Description

It seems the 90s really went to the dogs. 90s TV programming was filled with amazing pets. If you were alive in the 90s, you no doubt recognize most of these canine characters. If you’re like us, you remember them better than their human costars.
While cartoon dogs like Brian from Family Guy and Santa’s Little Helper from the Simpsons were certainly popular, we’ve chosen only actual fuzzy thespians for this list. We’re also not including big screen stars like Beethoven and Chance and Shadow from Homeward Bound, but those will come in a future list.